'Bedlam': Grounded flights and check-in chaos at airports all over Europe due to major IT outage

Should you go to the airport early and can you claim compensation?

Transcript

00:00A major global outage on Microsoft systems has led to almost thousands of flights being

00:07cancelled worldwide during the busy summer season.

00:11According to a travel expert, this situation is comparable to COVID-19 disruption.

00:18I definitely do not recall this happening before in terms of a disruption in terms of

00:22technology.

00:23We did see a similar disruption, dare I say, with COVID-19 when borders started to shut.

00:29And the skies were shutting because of the virus.

00:32While the defect in the software is now fixed, all over Europe passengers are reporting delays,

00:38diverted flights and long queues at check-in.

00:41Many passengers will be asking if they can get compensation for unplanned costs.

00:47Under European law, if a flight is delayed by more than three hours or cancelled entirely,

00:52the airline has to offer the passenger another flight or give them a full refund and sometimes

00:59but only if the problem is their fault.

01:03Every government around the world has different opportunities for compensation when there

01:07is a disruption to travel.

01:09What is important, therefore, is a traveler being very clear on what those terms are.

01:14So if it is not the fault of the airline, for instance, compensation is unlikely.

01:19If it's weather, if it's strike action, whatever it might be.

01:22And this is where, again, the passenger needs to get back to the airline to check and see

01:27what is the compensation.

01:28For some travel, if it is the fault of the airline, it depends on the amount of time

01:32that a passenger is held back.

01:35So it is a case-by-case basis.

01:38Travel experts also advise passengers not to arrive at the airport more than two hours

01:43ahead unless told to do by their airline or airport.